The N.W.O.B.H.M. Encyclopedia

I was a fan of nwobhm since around 1981 when I first heard Iron maiden at 12 years old, from that point on, I had always looked for new and obscure (or so I thought) bands from the genre. Bands like Chateaux, Tank, Tygers of Pan Tang, Satan, Demon, etc. I thought I had heard of almost every band in the genre, but man was I wrong. I both love and hate this book. It contains SO much info and so many bands I've never even heard of, that it's awesome!!! I hate it because now I want to hear all these bands but do not have the cash to find all these rare gems! If you are a fan of nwobhm, this is a no brainer, for like $35 it's well worth it. I've seen this book go for many times this price in the past, I guess more have been found or something, and now that the price is so low (it's been on my wish list a few years) and copies have become available somehow, I had to get it. You should to, you will not be sorry!

This is a book that has been on my shopping list for a while and having finally got around to buying it I can say it was worth every penny. Malc Macmillan has written his much-needed enclopedia in a style that is informative, cheerfully opinionated and frequently amusing. A well as the usual suspects it also digs deep into metal history and gives the likes of Hell, Jameson Raid and Mythra their due. If you have ever wondered what happened to Dark Star this is the book for you.

Libro muy elaborado, mucha información a mi parecer interesante.Totalmente recomendable para las personas con ganas de saber más sobre la NWOBHM.

Un sommet pour qui maîtrise bien l'Anglais. Près de 500 groupes répertoriés et des commentaires très détaillés. La Parfaire encyclopédie du genre, qu'on espère voir éditer en Français un de ces jours. .

The New Wave of Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), depending on your point of view:“.. was a nationwide ground-breaking phenomenon from which sprang such heavy metal legends as Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon and Diamond Head.”— Kerrang! NWOBHM supplement (1989)Or it was:“... crude, poorly produced and played by musicians with rudimentary talents.”— Joel McIver, Justice for All: The Truth about Metallica (2004)Well, I agree with both of these statements: it was, in my opinion, a magical coming of age for heavy metal which will never be bettered. The term NWOBHM was conjured up at the time by journalists to conveniently package the rock and metal bands which had embraced the DIY punk ethic; speeding up what went before, toning down the blues influences and turning it up to 11. The genre reached its peak in the UK in the early 80s when the charts were packed full of Maiden, Priest, Motorhead, Saxon and loads of other excellent metal bands. It was also a period where the numerous subgenres of metal were slowly starting to define themselves.This book is probably the most comprehensive record of the bands from that era (with 500 plus entries) and exposes the real size and scope of revolution that was taking place at the time. Of course not every band can be Def Leppard and the while a lot of the copycat and hopeful bands faded into obscurity it’s still massively interesting to read about their brief time in time spotlight and why it all went wrong for them.The occasional illustration, rare photograph, copy of album and 7” single sleeves, sporadic inclusion of gig information from the time and comments from the band members themselves liven up what could have a fairly dry read.I found some the entries were out of date but if you supplement most of the band entries with the data available at Rate Your Music then the colourful discographies can easily be updated and releases rated making it easy to separate the wheat out from the chaff.When I was reading the book I couldn't believe there were so many bands which I'd forgotten about who were still actually releasing music and gigging after all of these years. To me, this highlights the fact that big labels will continue to shovel crap onto the general public who are happy to buy it, while 99.9% of the truly awesome bands who created superbly influential songs sadly fail to make a living from doing what they love.So in summary, this is the ultimate primer of an all too short but hugely important chapter of musical history. A must read for anyone interested in the metal genre.

Ein überaus ausführliches und höchstwahrscheinlich praktisch komplettes Nachschlagewerk zu dieser äusserst aufregenden und fruchtbaren Periode der Musikgeschichte generell und Geschichte des britischen Hard Rock und Heavy Metal im Speziellen. Ein absoluter Pflichtkauf für jeden Metal-Historiker!

L'enciclopedia di Malc Macmillan è un libro più unico che raro: ogni amante della NWOBHM e dell'heavy metal dovrebbe possederlo. Dico "unico" perché sarebbe splendido se esistessero summe della medesima qualità per altri generi rock, che avessero lo stesso grado d'approfondimento e lo stesso approccio analitico (e non superficiale)... Invece, purtroppo, la bibliografia hard 'n' heavy conta per la maggior parte di pubblicazioni sommarie e generaliste, che non approfondiscono nulla e riciclano i soliti quattro gruppi famosi. Qualunquismo fatto a giornalismo musicale.Lode a Macmillan e a quanti hanno avuto - hanno - avranno il coraggio di pubblicare libri così corposi, senza i Metallica o i Maiden di turno in copertina.